Fighting by Minutes

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Fighting by Minutes: Time and the Art of War by Robert R. Leonhard, seems to be an interesting book (but a bit too expensive: > 100 USD).

An excerpt:

Traditional military history has without exception attacked the subject of warfare from a spatial perspective. Virtually everything we know and think about warfare fits neatly into a three-dimensional box: length, width, height.

But there are compelling reasons to consider the other dimension in warfare: the fourth dimension--time.

We can master war's spatial relationships, but without a fourth-dimensional view of warfare, we may be mystified at the results we see.

One can easily see that throughout history, the spatial dimensions of war grew or shrank in importance, depending on the situation.

Height (or its converse depth) is significant (even decisive) when one side in a conflict holds the decisive hill, gains air superiority, constructs a secret mine, interdicts shipping from beneath the waves, or masters outer space.

But history tells the tale of many battles and wars in which height was not an issue.

Likewise, width is the dimension that defines spatial flanks--a key target in battles of encirclement, or clever operational maneuvers.

Yet, often in war there are no exposed or vulnerable flanks, and

the fighting is confined to only one or two dimensions.

Finally, there is length--the dimension that cuts across international borders, defines invasions, and measures ground gained in an operation.

At times even length can be as irrelevant as useless territory, or as insignificant as border skirmishing.

But nothing--absolutely nothing--occurs in war outside of the temporal dimension.

Whether we are aware of it or not, the clock is always ticking, always defining the military art. If Mars holds a sword in one hand, he surely grasps a watch in the other.